Abhishek Agarwal
Published: February, 10, 2009

DUBUQUE - Her name is Mishereen Ellis.

“Misherine has been a delight and a real asset to have here at the college,” says Alejandro Pino.

She is the project coordinator between the admissions and intercultural office.

“I think Misherine brings new blood to the college; in terms of new ideas,” says Alejandro Pino.

One of those ideas was the first minority overnight student visits.

“One of my goals is to increase the amount of minority students, domestic and international,” says Ellis.

That’s because she believes in the college’s push for diversity.

“They recognize what a richness that diversity can bring to a community whether it’s the Loras or Dubuque community as a whole,” says Ellis.

That diversity is present in the activities she organizes.

“She’s help organize and plan various months throughout the academic year such as women’s history month, Native American history month, as well as black history month; so she has done a lot of events,” said Alejandro Pino.

It’s all in an effort to prepare students for a life after Loras.

“The more diverse campus we have, the more students are able to learn from each other, the better prepared they are for the real world,” says Ellis.

Abhishek Agarwal can be reached at Abhishek.Agarwal@loras.edu

Abhishek Agarwal
Published: December 4, 2008

DUBUQUE - The Dubuque Auto industry has seen a dip in the market after major automobile companies, like General Motors and Ford, asked for a federal bailout.

Mike Ogelsby, Sales Associate at Richardson Motors says, “It effects us because people are scared to do anything with the money that they have saved or the money that they just don’t want to spend more or less”.

General Motors’ bailout has been viewed as a major issue in this declining Economy.

“I think generally we have such a strong presence here in Dubuque anyway that it’s not really going to be a huge factor for us. We lasted through the last economic downturn so I think we’ll weather through this one just fine,” explains Bird Chevrolet Internet Sales Manager Teresa Fairchild.

However, the local Auto dealers view the dip as a temporary phase which will soon fade out.

Dodge Turpin General Manager, Patrick Turpin assures consumers, “it’s fairly stable right now, we’ve seen a little bit of a dip, however, it’s not nearly as drastic as you would foresee it being if you turned on the TV or looked at the computer.”

Many do not seem worried, and are even moving forward with remodeling plans.

“We just repainted our Honda show room and kind of cleaned it up a little bit,” said Ogelsby.

“We’ve had this remodel plan for a while,” adds Fairchild.

In addition, local dealerships are also trying to boost sales through national promotions like the red tag event.

Companies like Richardson Motors and Bird Chevrolet have been here in the business for the last eighty years and they hope that this is going to be a temporary phase and everything works out for the best.

Abhishek Agarwal can be reached at Abhishek.Agarwal@loras.edu

Abhishek Agarwal
Published: September 25, 2008

DUBUQUE — An apartment building at 1390 Bluff Street caught fire in downtown Dubuque around 12:50 pm this afternoon. The fire started in an apartment where a construction crew was scraping paint off the windows using a heat gun.

“They were scraping the paint off the wall and the heat gun caught the wood on fire and it went up in the attic,” says apartment resident Amanda Browning.

No one was injured as the construction crew called 911 and evacuated the building. Everybody was able to get out of the building in time but had to leave behind their pets in the burning building.

“I was scared I was trying to get my cats I am like let’s get the cats and go but they told us we couldn’t they told us all to get out and leave,” describes Browning.

The streets were cordoned off on all four sides making Loras Boulevard virtually inaccessible. Traffic had to be redirected around the scene. The fire department was able to get the fire under control quickly; however, the building did sustain some damage and a lot of debris had to be thrown out.

Abhishek Agarwal can be contacted at Abhishek.Agarwal@loras.edu